TheTeufelShuffle

TWINS 2020 SEASON SIMULATION


 
Game 24, 4-21-20
 
Coming off a tough loss to Seattle at home the Twins wanted to rectify that in game 2. Chacin (0-0) Vs. Marco Gonzalez (3-2). Game highlights below:

Bottom of the 2nd - Donaldson hit a single. Garver got on base due to an error by Marco Gonzalez. Jake Cave came up big with a huge double to right field scoring Donaldson. Adrianza walked. Then Polanco hit into a double play, one of what seems like a very small handful this year for the Twins. Twins lead 1-0
Bottom of the 3rd - No runs for the Twins but Kepler keeps crushing, with a well hit double. His slugging percentage is at an outstanding .608 Twins lead 1-0
Top of the 4th - Chacin, who is having a rough season, had been cruising through the first three innings. In the 4th he found himself in a bit of trouble. Dee Gordon led off with a single. Vogelbach got walked after Gordon stole 2nd. Then J.P. Crawford got hit by a pitch. Bases loaded with no outs. Bullpen is warming up. Chacin gets Haniger to ground back to him where he forced out Gordon at home. Then he induced Seager to hit into a 4-6-3 double play to get out of that nasty jam. Twins lead 1-0
Bottom of the 4th - A wild pitch got Donaldson into scoring position after his lead off single. Next batter Kepler knocked him in with a single. The Twins then got the bases loaded. Buxton hit a deep fly ball to Mallex Smith who threw a perfect throw to get Garver tagging up at home. Twins lead 2-0
Top of the 5th - Dylan Moore was the first batter for Seattle, before Chacin could get through Moore's at bat he got injured and had to leave the game. Clippard came in for Chacin and struck out the side. Chacin is out for 3 weeks and the Twins called up Matt Wisler. It is unknown if they will go with Dobnak or Wisler with the 5th rotation spot. Twins lead 2-0
Top of the 8th - Clippard pitched great in his emergency appearance. The only time he got slightly in trouble, he got Seager to hit into his second 4-6-3 double play of the game. Romo came in with two outs in the eighth and almost blew it, giving up a double when a man was on first, and then a walk. He got the next batter out having Seattle leave the bases loaded in a clutch situation. Twins lead 2-0
9th inning - In the top of the 9th, Sano led things off with a double but that was all the Twins could muster and they could not pad their lead with more production this inning. Romo stayed in for the 9th. Rogers must be in the dog house with Baldelli or Wes Johnson despite giving up 0 earned runs in 10.1 innings, as the staff has had a couple questionable late game pitching calls recently. J.P. Crawford started it out with a single for the Mariners. But then Romo got the next three batters, K, Foul out to 1st, and another K for his second save on the season.

TWINS WIN 2-0
Marco Gonzalez got the tough loss for the Mariners as he really stymied the Twins this game. A couple hits here and there did him in. Chacin, who has been a mess this season, actually looked great here - 4 IP, 2 H, 3 K. It's too bad he is out for three weeks as I'd love to see if he turned it around his next few starts. By the time Chacin recovers, Pineda will be back taking his roster spot. Tyler Clippard got his 1st win of the season. He struck out 6 of the 12 batters he faced. It was a pretty ho-hum game, but nice to see the Twins bounce back with a shut out win.
Minnesota 17-7 _ 2nd place, 2.5 games behind Cleveland
https://www.dynastyleaguebaseball.com/GameRecap.aspx?OrgID=116202&GameID=dfcb33a768754291b9481f2ee5e67bb3&ReportType=1
 
Other League News
Astros shortstop Aledmys Diaz is also out for three weeks. Cubs catcher Wilson Contreras is out for two weeks. Josh Phegley replaced Contreras and hit a home run for the Cubbies (15-8) who got the win. The Braves (13-12) and Diamondbacks (11-12) were locked up in a tight game. In the 7th inning the Braves Travis d'Arnaud knocked in the tying run on an error, and in the bottom of the 9th he knocked in the winning run with a walk off single. The Phillies (16-8) took down the struggling Rangers (6-17) in a walk-off as well. This one was a little more exciting though as Jay Bruce hit the game winning solo home run. Indians watch: They won again (20-5) destroying Oakland (14-10). They seem to win every day we do. The Pirates won (9-14)...nothing exciting to report in the game, but I did just watch the Dock Ellis documentary, "No No: A Dockumentary" today on Amazon Prime...it's a super good baseball documentary and I I highly recommend it!
 
Twins Player Stats & More
https://www.dynastyleaguebaseball.com/TeamStats.aspx?OrgID=116202&TeamID=10&Report=0&GameType=0&Splits=0

I finally gave up on finding my 2009 pictures of Busch Stadium and finished the NL Central write up. I've made my peace with not finishing the 30 active stadiums this year, so writing about visiting baseball is still the best option until I can go see it again. And without further whining, here's the next division...
 
 

National League Central


Chicago Cubs
 
Wrigley Field
 


 
What if I told you if you would watch a club volleyball tournament with friends in the Dells for two days you’d get to go to the Twins at Cubs to finish out the weekend? What do you do? Well, of course you go watch volleyball and then go watch the Twins. In 2009, when I saw the Twins would finally be in Chicago for the first time since 2001, I knew I had to go. I checked in with old friends who are Cub fans only to discover they were booked for a volleyball tournament in the Dells. Some schedule shuffling ensued, Cubs tickets were acquired, and next thing I know I’m cheering for volleyball then listening to Joe Nathan get the save in the second game of the series as I’m driving past Mt Olympus on the way to Chicago. The Twins were 32-32 after the Saturday win and were three games back of the Tigers after the Pirates and Zach Duke had beaten them 9-3.
My friends lived in St Charles, so we left from there on Sunday morning for a 1PM game. Fortunately, I wasn’t driving and didn’t have to figure out parking. I’m not sure it’s any easier now, but in 2009 we ended up parking in some guy’s alley driveway. I don’t remember what we paid, but our car wasn’t blocked in so I’m sure it wasn’t cheap. We walked past the McDonalds near Wrigley which I think is gone now, or at least the surface lot parking is, and even they were selling spots in their lot. Wrigleyville on a Sunday afternoon in 2009 was nuts. I can’t fathom what it must have been like for a night playoff game in 2016. We made our way into the stadium... and well… it was before the rehab and enhancements. The bathrooms weren’t very good. The concession stands were limited. I don’t remember it smelling as bad as Oakland, but there was a scent I would describe as less than pleasant in the concourse. I didn’t take pictures then like I do now. I wish I had so I could validate the memories.
We made our way to the seats. We were in the lower level on the 3rd base side under the upper deck so we did have a couple of beams to look around. The field itself was lovely. I’d never been to a park with plants lining the outfield wall. The manual scoreboard in center field was novel. Once the game began, I realized how much data I wasn’t getting because Wrigley just didn’t have the same number of screens and boards, even compared to the Metrodome.
 


 
Nick Punto bunted for a hit in the top of the 2nd allowing Gomez to score (don’t tell Parker). Scott Baker would give the run right back in the bottom of the 2nd and another run in the bottom of the 4th. Carlos Gomez hit a solo homer off Ted Lilly in the top of the 6th to tie the game. He probably bat-flipped and annoyed someone, but I only remember cheering. The game remained tied until Jesse Crain and an unfortunate series of hits and an IBB lead to a walk-off single by Ryan Theriot. Twins lost 3-2.
The Twins still won the series, but my one and only game at Wrigley was a Twins loss. And I got in “trouble” for eating ketchup on my hot dog. I eat mustard on them now, please hold the pitchforks. I’d like to go back now and see the updates they’ve made, especially to give it a fair comparison to Fenway which has done a very nice job of keeping the history and yet having decent restrooms. I didn’t make it there for the Twins in 2018. Maybe next time.
 
 
Cincinnati Reds
 
Great American Ballpark
 


 
In July of 2016, life took me to Cincinnati while the Reds were in town, so it was time to get another ballpark off my list. Great American Ballpark sits right on the Ohio River on the edge of downtown Cincinnati. The state line with Kentucky is a few feet into the river, so in theory, a hitter could launch a ball into the next state and it not be hyperbole. To get to the ballpark you can either go by land via Johnny Bench or Pete Rose Way or if you have a boat or live on the Kentucky side you can take a river boat shuttle from the Hooters in Newport, Kentucky. Taking a boat to take a boat to a baseball game was a first for me.
 


 
GABP is faithful to the team name and had all red seats so the green grass of the field is quite a contrast. Red seats also help hide attendance issues. The announced attendance for the game that Sunday afternoon was 23,085 (GABP capacity 42,319), but as we all know that’s tickets sold, not bodies in the seats. The team was 34-58 at that point in the season so it’s not terribly surprising attendance was light. GABP opened in 2003, but it felt more than seven years older than Target Field. Scouts Alley was a bar/tunnel area with exclusive access from the Scout Seats around home plate. It’s since been remodeled which is good, because it was dark and had limited amenities compared to other club areas I’ve been in. The main concourses have a good selection of food and there’s a bar with a huge list of beers. The most remarkable thing about the ballpark is location, location, location. It’s all fine, but the position on the river with access by boat in a city that has a huge boating community is really the most remarkable thing about the park.
The game was against the Brewers and was an eight hit pitchers’ duel between Zach Davies and Dan Straily. I did get to see a Joey-from-Canada hit in the bottom of the 4th so the game wasn’t a total bust. The Reds would finally break the 0-0 tie with a walk-off passed ball by Jonathan Lucroy that allowed Billy Hamilton to score. Reds win 1-0.
 
Milwaukee Brewers
 
County Stadium
 


 
I happened to take a couple of pictures with a film camera during my visit to County Stadium or I honestly wouldn’t have recalled the date I was there. I remembered who I was with. I’d started babysitting for a family in high school. They moved around after I was in college, but we’d stayed in touch and they were going to be in Milwaukee to visit family. I missed the kids, so I booked a ticket to see them. We ended up going to a Brewers game, my one and only game at County Stadium.
The Brewers were still in the American League in 1997, but it would be their last year without forcing their fans to watch the crime of making pitchers bat. They were also in the midst of building the airplane hangar that would eventually be known as Miller Park, I mean American Family Field.
 


 
I honestly don’t remember much about the park other than the posts for the upper deck near our seats and a long walk to where we parked thanks to construction starting on Miller Park. The box score tells me the Mariners won 6-5 and the Brewer’s Jeromy Burnitz hit a homer so Bernie Brewer must have taken the slide down to his beer mug (when it still got to be a beer mug). If I’d had to testify in court without Baseball Reference to check the details, I’d have been in trouble. The family would eventually move back to the Chicago area and one of the kids would play volleyball in the Wisconsin Dells before I got to see Wrigley Field for the first time (see above). The kids are grown now and County Stadium was demolished in 2001. Time flies.
 
Miller Park (soon to be American Family Field)
 


 
Oh, Miller Park… What can I say about an airplane hangar masquerading as a baseball stadium? I never made it to Miller Park in the Metrodome years, but starting in 2012 I had to travel to Wisconsin and Illinois for work, so it was finally time. The Twins were slated to be in Milwaukee in July that year. I plotted out my work meetings and managed to squeeze in my first trip to see the Beloit Snappers, the Twins low A affiliate at the time, spend a few days working, visit my niece and nephew, and get to a couple of Twins games at Miller Park.
I will admit I’m not much of a tailgater and that likely colors my impression of Miller Park. The stadium is about 5 miles from downtown has miles and miles of parking that fills with tailgaters, especially for weekend games. By the time I visited Miller, we’d had two full seasons at Target Field in downtown within walking distance of restaurants and bars. Miller Park felt like it was out on an island. The clamshell retractable roof gives the building an odd look since it doesn’t blend with the brick walls of the main structure. Once you’re inside, even when the clamshell roof is open, you never quite feel like you’re outside since the support structure for the roof is stationary. They also partially close it to manipulate the shadows so it feels even less like you’re outside when that happens. The field itself is nice and there are decent views from most seats. There are seats directly over the bullpens where fans can share their appreciation of the relief pitchers… probably. In County Stadium, Bernie Brewer lived in a chalet and slid into a beer stein. With the move to Miller Park, Bernie was made more kid friendly by having him live in a dugout and slide into a “home” platform. Yes, it’s lame, and yes, it’s ironic in a ballpark named after a beer company, but that’s changing next season.
 


 
Ultimately, Miller is fine. It won’t have any rain outs. There’s always plenty of parking. But, it’s just not special for me beyond being the place where my niece and nephew saw their first MLB game. I got to see plenty of offense on Friday night as the Twins won 11-3. Scott Diamond was 3-0 with a 1.40 ERA after the game and would go one to have his best season in the majors. On Saturday, with my niece and nephew in attendance, the Twins would need six pitchers for an 11 inning 5-4 win. The kids were troopers and made it through the almost four-hour long game. Thankfully, Trevor Plouffe hit a homer off Manny Para in the top of the 11th or that might not have been the case.
I fortunately skipped the Sunday game. It was a 16-4 mess of a loss where Jason Marquis gave up eight runs in 1.2 innings to start the game and Jeff Gray allowed five while recording zero outs in the 7th. Drew Butera got the 8th for his MLB pitching debut. He allowed no hits, walked one, and struck out one… Carlos Gomez, because of course he did.
 
 
Pittsburgh Pirates
 
PNC Park
 


 
I’d been to Pittsburgh in 2003 for work and was fortunate enough to see Mario Lemieux play in the old Igloo back then, but didn’t get to PNC. By 2018, I was actively trying to get to all 30 active stadiums. I still needed PNC and Camden Yards in Baltimore. When the Twins 2018 schedule came out and they started the season in those two cities, I put the vacation days on the calendar.
It was snowing upon arrival in Pittsburgh on April 1, 2018. April Fools! Or not… The next morning and 4 inches later, I was watching the grounds crew shovel the field via the hotel TV. It was the home opener for the Pirates so they were doing everything they could to get the game in on time. The temp was supposed to be in the low 40s at game time so I grabbed my blankets and parka and headed downtown. For those who haven’t been to Pittsburgh, downtown sits at the confluence of the Allegheny River and Monongahela River, which meet at Pittsburgh's Point State Park to form the Ohio River. Three rivers surrounding a downtown means there are lots of bridges. And there’s a funicular!!! The Duquesne Incline takes you up Mt. Washington on the south side and gives you a great view of the city and the many bridges.
 


Near the ballpark is the Roberto Clemente Bridge which leads across the Allegheny from downtown. It’s closed to traffic for games depending on game time and becomes a pedestrian bridge. The center field gate is on the other side of the bridge. The lower concourse of the ballpark has a few different levels so you can’t walk the circle without stairs or elevators, but you can walk the full circle. The upper concourse spans foul pole to foul pole around home. With no high outfield stands, the view remains unobstructed. The view of the bridge and the skyline from inside the ballpark easily gives PNC the best view in MLB. Yes, St Louis has the arch and Oracle has the bay, but neither beats PNC in my view. They have a few unique food items like the pulled pork pierogie hoagie. The mascot race is between different flavor pierogies. Onion won the race for the second game. I missed which one won the race for the first game.
I sat along the third base line for the first game a few rows up from the dugout. The view is still good, but the batter’s eye wall blocks part of the bridge and you can’t read the ivy “PIRATES” in center field as well as you can upstairs. I did have a great view of Lance Lynn giving up a first inning grand slam. The Twins would make some noise in the 6th, but would go on to lose 5-4.
For the second game it was supposed to be cold and probably snow again so I went with a ticket in their version of the Legend’s Club. The PBC Level has a few pool tables, several bar and food areas, and some nice leather chairs in front of TVs when you’ve had too much of the cold and snow. The Twins offense showed up for 7 runs. Jake Odorizzi exited after two walks in the 5th, but Taylor Rogers, Hildenberger, and Addison Reed kept the Pirates off the board until Fernando Rodney came in for the 9th, ate some snow, and closed out the Twins’ 7-3 win. Pictures from the two games are posted on Flickr.
 
 
St. Louis Cardinals
 
Busch Stadium 2.0
 


 
This picture is not from the June 2009 games when I first visited the new Busch Stadium. I’ve given up on ever finding them. Either I didn’t take any or they’ve been lost to a crashed hard drive at some point. This picture is from a drive by of the stadium in December of 2012.
It was definitely cooler when I took the picture than the Saturday day game in St Louis on the 27th of June, 2009. The box score shows the temperature at time of game was only 92, but it would rise to 99 after the noon start along with a heat index into the 100s. Family from Missouri and Illinois was supposed to be going to the game with me and my cousin was brining her boys to the game for the first MLB game ever, so of course the heat was the worst it would be all summer. Our seats were in one of the upper levels, but the canopy for the top level isn’t very wide and the orientation of the stadium means that the sun is pretty unrelenting during day games. We finally got shade in the later innings so fortunately, the boys didn’t melt and neither did their friends or my aunt and uncle. The game was terrible for the Twins. Kevin Slowey only went three innings and allowed five runs. Four of the five runs came on two separate two-run homers from a much younger Albert Pujols. My cousin’s boys were thrilled. St. Louis native Bobby Keppel went four innings in the heat after Slowey was done. The boys didn’t really care that Keppel was a local guy. They also probably don’t remember that Keppel appeared in 37 games for the Twins in 2009, most importantly in the top of the 12th inning of Game 163 and forever cementing his name in Twins Trivia history as the winning pitcher. Despite the Cardinals using SEVEN pitchers to get through the game, the only offense the Twins mustered was off Todd Wellemeyer in the top of the second. The Cards would go on to win 5-3.
The weather broke a bit for Sunday’s game plus it started an hour later. My college friends I went with were smart enough to bring partially frozen water bottles and we got shade sooner. Liriano was the starter. He went seven innings and allowed only two runs. Justin Morneau hit a three-run homer in the top of the 1st. Joe Nathan got his 19th save of the year. The Twins won 6-2 in 2:50. A good time was had by all, except for the whole pitchers batting thing.
My memories of the stadium aren’t very complete. I remember the arch and the old courthouse dome that can be seen from the stadium. I remember plenty of brick and polished concrete. I remember the old Busch scoreboard that hangs in one of the concourses. I don’t remember any food options that are unique. It was too hot to eat anything. Old Busch had been torn down by then, but the space that’s now a ballpark village area with Cardinals Nation and other restaurants and bars was just an asphalt parking lot in 2009. There’s also a Cardinals Hall of Fame Museum in that space now, so if the timing works out for me to go the next time the Twins are in St Louis, I’ll have something new to see. And maybe take a few pictures that won’t be lost since everything now gets backed up to the cloud.
 
 
TCAnelle’s NL Central Rankings:
PNC Park
Busch Stadium 2.0
Wrigley Field
Great American Ballpark
Miller Park/American Family Field
County Stadium

TWINS 2020 SEASON SIMULATION


 
The Twins (13-6) are riding high on a 6 game winning streak as we head into a home series with Detroit (4-14). There is a good chance this streak will continue, and is asking for a third straight sweep too much? Did I just jinx us? Let's find out. I'm 3 games behind so I'm going to forgo my usual inning by inning highlight recap and just give a more general synopsis to catch me up to the correct day!
 
Game 20, 4-17-20
Odorizzi (3-0) has been a stud this season and he is facing off against Matt Boyd (2-1) who at this point of the season has half of Detroit's wins. Odorizzi started out the game looking like he may get a 1-2-3 inning, but after a single and a home run to JaCoby Jones and then a Jonathan Schoop double, Detroit had Minnesota scratching their heads wondering what just happened. Odorizzi got out just giving up the 2 runs. But Sano wasn't going to let Detroit take a 1st inning lead if it was up to him, that has been the Twins MO these past couple series. Sano shot a solo blast. Unfortunately nobody helped him out. Tigers lead 2-1 after 1 inning. Christin Stewart hit the Tigers 2nd home run to start the 2nd inning. The Twins were fed up. Garver started out with a double, Boyd got 2 Ks, and then the Twins went single, triple, single for Polanco, Buxton and Kepler. Twins lead 4-3 after 2nd inning.
Nick Ramirez came in for Boyd after he couldn't get the first two batters out in the 5th. It didn't help. Twins scored 3, capped by a Polanco 2 RBI double in which Cave got thrown out at home on an exciting play. Twins lead 6-3 after 5 innings.
The Twins added one more run late on an error and that is it. The biggest game highlight was Odorizzi pitched lights out after the first couple hrs he gave up early, getting a complete game win with 14 Ks. (4-0, 2.29 ERA)
Twins 14-6 _ 2nd Place, 3.5 behind Cleveland
https://www.dynastyleaguebaseball.com/GameRecap.aspx?OrgID=116202&GameID=3b2d052aa957490a9b801af8c9609365&ReportType=1
 
Other League News
Former Twin, Danny Santana who I was happy to catch play back in the day with Sano in AA New Britain, is having a huge start for the Rangers (6-14). While the team is struggling a lot, he jut hit his 7th HR in game 2 of their double header and is hitting .325. Milwaukee (8-12) beat the Mets (8-12) in 15 innings. After Milwaukee went through 5 pitchers, Jay Jackson came in and got stuck in there for 5.1 innings. He gave up only 1 hit and had 10 Ks out of the bullpen. Cleveland (18-3) keeps winning. They needed 11 innings today and Franmil Reyes hit two home runs including what would be the game winner in the 11th. Cincinnati's catcher Kyle Farmer is out for 3 weeks.
 
Game 21, 4-18-20
Game 2 of the series featured Kenta Maeda (2-1) vs. Jordan Zimmermann (0-1). This game featured more of the same. Twins getting a big win. Kenta Maeda's line didn't look great today due to a Sano error costing the Twins 3 unforced runs to cross the plate. However he got 11 K's in 5.2 innings of work. The down side of the Twins young season has been Trevor May. He came in for 1 inning of work and faced 9 batters giving up 4 earned runs. May's ERA has now ballooned to 16.20. I'm putting this up to small sample size, he is too good to be this bad for a big chunk of the season. 5 Twins batters had a multi-hit game today. Kepler, Arraez, Polanco, Donaldson and Garver. Kepler hit his league leading 9th home run later in the game, while Polanco got things rolling early with 2 home runs off Jordan Zimmermann to start the game. He is up to 3 HRs on the season now. Tigers went 6-13 with runners in scoring position and still couldn't pull off the win, as Rogers came in for his 5th save of the season. Twins Win 10-8
Minnesota 15-6 _ 2nd place, 2 back of Cleveland
https://www.dynastyleaguebaseball.com/GameRecap.aspx?OrgID=116202&GameID=f554243b93ea41f0a8acf77dc9216cf4&ReportType=1
 
Other League News
Oakland (13-9) lost Luzardo to injury during the game before he even finished pitching to the first batter. He was checked out and after the game, the A's reported he will be ready to go immediately, and you will see him on the mound in 5 games. More pressing was that Piscotty also got injured during the game and while not horrible, he is out for 2 weeks. Jorge Soler had 3 home runs and 7 RBI in Kansas City's (11-9) win over Baltimore (9-11).
 
Game 22, 4-19-20
Twins are going for the sweep. Their third in a row. Homer Bailey (1-2) is up against Spencer Turnbull (0-2).
Nobody could really get much done the first couple innings and then in the third the Twins got a run across the plate in a fairly cheap way. Kepler and Polanco both singled, but Polanco eventually scored on a Turnbull wild pitch. Cheap yes, but a run is a run is a run. Twins lead 1-0. The wheels fell off for Turnbull in the bottom of the 4th. Garver started the 4th getting hit by a pitch, Sano walked, Rosario doubled, Buxton doubled, Kepler singled, all before Arraez got the first out whiffing on three. But three runs already scored. Tyler Alexander came in for Turnbull and Alexander gave up a 2 RBI double to Donaldson as well. Twins lead 7-0. Things were calm offensively for both teams for a couple innings. In the bottom of the 6th Polanco hit a 1 out RBI single. Cruz singled and Donaldson got hit by a pitch before Garver lined out. Out number 2 of the inning. This is when Sano casually walked up to the plate and hit the third team grand slam of the young season. The Twins already have more grand slams this season in 22 games than they did in 162 games last year when they set a record in total home runs! Twins lead 12-0. Eddie Rosario added some last minute highlight film footage with an RBI double in the bottom of the 8th in which Garver got nailed at home trying to make it from first. And with that, that was the last hit of the game.
Twins Win 13-0.
Kepler did not get a HR today, but he did go 3-5. Sano went 2-4, with a BB, 2b, HR, 2 Runs and 4 RBI. But nobody's game was better than Homer Bailey. Bailey pitched a completely game shutout. Only 31 batters were faced as he gave up 4 hits, 0 walks and recorded 6 strike outs with a game score of 92 to get his second win of the season.
https://www.dynastyleaguebaseball.com/GameRecap.aspx?OrgID=116202&GameID=00d281fb2e1a40ca9e43a476f0c6af0f&ReportType=1
 
Minnesota 16-6 _ 2nd place, 2.5 games behind Cleveland. Next up is a 4 game series with (7-16) Seattle at home. Looking good for the twins in this one. Let's see how it plays out over the next handful of days.
 
Other League News
Oakland's (14-9) Chris Bassitt only pitched to 3 batters before he got injured (out for 6 days). J.B. Wendelken came in and pitched the entire rest of the game only giving up 1 hit to Seattle. The Rangers who are already struggling at (6-16) lost Andrus for 9 days, but were dealt a major blow when they lost Joey Gallo for 2 months as well. He was having a great start to his season hitting 6 HRs and has an OPS of 1.026. Tough break for the guy in first place of the MLB Players league The Show thing that they are doing. Check that out, it's fun. Trevor May is funny to watch play. Anyways, back to the simulation, Baltimore (10-11) snuck past Kansas City (11-10) by the score of 5-4 in the battle of the two teams that are playing .500 ball and shouldn't be. Wilmer Difo got the walk-off single for the Nationals (13-7) over the Cubs (13-8). Difo was only brought in the game because Eric Thames got ejected in the first. Indians update: They won again, behind Bieber's complete game shutout (It wasn't as spectacular as Bailey's was today though!!!.)
 
Twins Player Stats & More
https://www.dynastyleaguebaseball.com/TeamStats.aspx?OrgID=116202&TeamID=10&Report=0&GameType=0&Splits=0

TWINS 2020 SEASON SIMULATION


 
 
Game 18 4-14-20
Sorry I got a little behind here. Life with a three year old and 6 month old with a continuous ear infection sometimes takes priority. Anyways the Twins are coming off a great blow out win in Toronto. Let's see what happens in game 2 and 3 of the series. Can they head into their off-day with a nice road trip? Jhoulys Chacin (0-0) vs Chase Anderson (1-2) Game highlights below.

Top of the 1st - with one out Arraez got to second after Cavan Biggio surprisingly threw the ball way over Travis Shaw's head. Polanco flew out for number 2 of the inning. Then Cruz hit a single scoring Arraez. Donaldson singled. Then, Garver walked. With the bases loaded and 2 outs, Sano came up to bad and showed why he should be rated with 80 power. He hit the Twins 2nd grand slam of the season to left center field. Twins lead 5-0
Top of the 2nd - Kepler continues to rake hitting a 412 foot shot. Twins lead 6-0
Bottom of the 2nd - Randal Grichuk wanted to join the home run party and hit a solo shot of his own off of Chacin. Twins lead 6-1
Top of the 3rd - Donaldson singled again, and Garver walked again...And Sano hit another bomb again, 421 ft. If only Cruz got on base to start the inning, Sano would have had back to back grand slams in this game. Rosario grounded out, and then Buxton hit a double. Kepler told Sano, if you can do it so can I, and hit his 2nd home run in as many at bats. Arraez then singled. And Anderson was happy to walk off the mound getting through 2.2 innings. Jacob Waguespack took over for the Jays. First batter he faced, Polanco launches a triple to the gap scoring Arraez. Then Cruz came up again this inning and hit an RBI single. Then Donaldson popped out to end the inning. Holy moly that was fun!!! Twins lead 13-1
Bottom of the 3rd - I give the Blue Jays credit as they wanted to fight this one out. First at bat, Gurriel Jr hits a HR that only had a 16% chance of leaving the field. Next batter Chacin gives up his 3rd home run of the game to Bichette which had a slightly better 30% chance to be a HR. Vlad Jr. singled, Teoscar Hernandez hit a triple to dead center that had a 27% chance of not being caught by Buxton. Then Panik hit a sinking liner to Buxton that only had a 14% chance of not being caught, and it defied the odds and landed in for an RBI single. Frustrating to say the least for the Twins to see 4 out of 5 batters beat low odds on plays. Chacin followed up the single by plunking both Drury AND Shaw and somehow didn't get ejected from the game but Baldelli said he saw enough and yanked him for Dobnak. Dobnak got two easy outs before giving up a single to Gurriel Jr. (Both teams hit through the order this inning). The single scored Panik, but the Twins got their own luck and Buxton threw out Drury at home with 32% odds he'd throw the perfect bullet. This is one of the more crazy innings I have seen in this game. So much has happened this game and we are only through three innings!!! Twins lead 13-6
Top of the 4th - Garver, Rosario and Buxton all singled, Buxton's scored Garver. That was the most normal half inning the Twins have had so far. Twins lead 14-6
Top of the 5th - Cruz leads the inning off with a homer. Two batters later Garver said, "Hey, I hit for power too, dontcha know?" He has adopted Minnesota phrases pretty quickly. And he hit a home run as well. Cruz slammed his 452 ft. Garver's went 428 ft. Twins lead 16-6
Top of the 6th - With 2 outs, Cruz thought if everyone is hitting 2 home runs this game I may as well join that bandwagon. Then the very next batter, Donaldson being the newcomer to the team wanted to fit in with the rest of the guys and hit his first HR of the game 416 ft to LF. Twins lead 18-6
Bottom of the 7th - Dobnak did a great job coming in to relieve Chacin throwing 3 straight 1-2-3 innings. But he was exhausted so Duffey came in to start the 7th. He gave up a double to Bichette who eventually scored on a Drury single. Twins lead 18-7
Bottom of the 8th - Not Duffey's best game today. Tellez got on after a Duffey error, and then scored after Biggio hit a double. Luckily the Twins didn't need Duffey or any of their pitchers to have good stuff today. Twins lead 18-8
Top of the 9th - The Twins weren't even trying at this point. But with bad play by the Jays they couldn't help but run up the score. Donaldson took a base on balls. He scored on a single by Garver and a subsequent error on the play. Then Sano who had a monster of a game hit a double to score Garver. And that was that. May came in for the bottom of the 9th and got three easy outs to end the game.

TWINS WIN 20-8
What a fun game! 8 home runs for the twins, 3 players hitting 2 a piece. 11 extra base hits in total. The Twins were a whopping 7-14 with runners in scoring position. Chacin had a horrible game with a game score of an extremely low 3. But it didn't matter at all with the bats going off like they did.
Twins 12-6 _ 2nd place, 3 games behind Cleveland
https://www.dynastyleaguebaseball.com/GameRecap.aspx?OrgID=116202&GameID=6cab95a1d12c4ff08255eefedfa37dcc&ReportType=1
 
Other League News
The Philadelphia (11-7) v. Milwaukee (7-10) game also had three players hit 2 HRs a piece. Gregorius, Harrison and Braun.
 
Game 19, 4-15-20
Twins are going for their 2nd straight sweep in a row, both would be on the road if they can accomplish it today. Berrios (3-1) v. a pitcher the Twins couldn't get in Ryu (2-1). Game Highlights below.
Top of the 1st - Kepler hit a single, Sano walked, then Donaldson hit a single scoring Kepler. Garver walked to load the bases for Jake Cave, who fouled out to end the inning. Twins continue scoring in the 1st inning game after game. Twins lead 1-0
Bottom of the 2nd - After getting through the 1st inning with out much damage, Berrios walked Gurriel Jr. to start the bottom of the 2nd and then gave up a 456 wallop to Drury. Damage done. Jays lead 2-1
Top of the 6th - Coming off a crazy 28 combined run game. This one must be a hang over game as not much has happened, singles here and there but not much else going on. Polanco got on base with a walk in the top of the 6th. Buxton moved him to third on a single and then ran to second himself on the throw to third. Jason Adam relieved Ryu. Kepler scored Polanco on a ground out. Tied up the game, but that a ground out RBI has been one of the most exciting things to happen this game! Game tied 2-2
Bottom of the 8th - With two outs and nobody on Berrios gave up his second home run of the game to Teoscar Hernandez. The two home runs hurt, but overall Berrios pitched a good game. Rogers comes into the game to relieve and gets the last out of the inning. Jays lead 3-2
Top of the 9th - Do or die time for the Twins down a run. Kepler walked to start the inning. Wilmer Font comes in to pitch for the Jays. He walks Sano and Rosario pinch runs for him. Cruz smacks a double scoring Kepler which ties up the game. With still no outs, Anthony Bass comes in for Font after he blew the save. Donaldson comes up to bat and hits a single scoring Rosario and giving the Twins the lead. Now this game is turning into a fun one like the rest of this series. Just took 9 innings to get there today. Next up Garver hit a double, scoring both Cruz and Donaldson. Jake Cave singled. Adrianza grounded out, the first of the innings but it scored Garver. Polanco walked and then Buxton walked. Kepler comes up again as the Twins hit through the line up for the 2nd game in a row. Kepler got an RBI ground out. Finally Rosario grounded out to end that horrendous inning for the Jays. Twins lead 8-3
Bottom of the 9th - The Blue Jays got runners in scoring position early in the inning, but Rogers shut them down for his 1st win of the season.

TWINS WIN 8-3
What a series. The bats that had been on and off for the season finally came roaring alive. 39 hits in the series sweep. Berrios got the Quality Start with a 55 game score mostly lower because of the 2 home runs. The Twins are on fire winning 6 straight. Unfortunately Cleveland keeps winning too (16-3)
Twins 13-6 _ 2nd Place, 3 games behind Cleveland
https://www.dynastyleaguebaseball.com/GameRecap.aspx?OrgID=116202&GameID=cc3326d70247441188038b05fbc096b3&ReportType=1
 
Other League News
Top pitchers had great games today. Buehler, Ray, Verlander, Wheeler, Soroka, and Darvish all dominated in their starts today. Cleveland did not have a great game but snuck out the win with a Naquin walk off single in the 11th inning. Carlos Correa is out for two months for the Astros with an injury.

TWINS 2020 SEASON SIMULATION


 
The Twins have an off day on 4-16-20. I will give a half month update below with plenty of links.
 

AL CENTRAL STANDINGS


Cleveland 17-3
Minnesota 13-6
Kansas City 9-9
Chicago 7-11
Detroit 4-14

The Twins are 11-2 on the road. If we didn't go 2-4 in our first two home series we'd be right up there as the best team in the league thus far with Cleveland. Cleveland is starting out amazingly. They went 10-0 before the Twins gave them their first loss and have been 7-2 since then. Can't get much better than that, and that is why the Twins are 3.5 games behind them. The other AL division leaders are Tampa and Houston with Oakland and MN getting the wild card spots super early in the season. In the NL Philly, Chicago and Colorado are leading their divisions with the Dodgers and Washington taking the early Wild card positions. Link to the standings here: https://www.dynastyleaguebaseball.com/Standings.aspx?OrgID=116202
 

LEAGUE LEADERS


 
Average
AL-------------------------------------------NL
1. Alex Verdugo Bos .473 --------------- 1. Eric Sogard Mil .420
2. Jose Iglesias Bal .387 -----------------2. Howie Kendrick Wash .403
3. Tim Anderson CWS .378 --------------3. Eric Hosmer SD .383
 
OPS
AL-------------------------------------------NL
1. Mike Trout LAA 1.234 -----------------1. Howie Kendrick Wash 1.226
2. Mitch Haniger Sea 1.200 -------------2. Andrew McCutchen Phi 1.163
3. Michael Brantley Hou 1.198 ----------3. Javier Baez ChC 1.110
 
HRs
AL-------------------------------------------NL
1. Max Kepler Min 8---------------------- 1. Aristides Aquino Cin 11
2. Michael Brantley Hou 7 ----------------2. Javier Baez ChC 8
3. 7 players with 6 ------------------------3. Howie Kendrick Wash 7
 
ERA
AL--------------------------------------------NL
1. Aaron Bummer ChW 0.00 --------------1. Stephen Strasburg Wash 0.38
2. Charlie Morton TB 1.23 -----------------2. Anthony DeSclafani Cin 1.63
3. John Means Bal 1.37 -------------------3. Mike Soroka Atl 1.67
 
Strikeouts
AL--------------------------------------------NL
1. Gerrit Cole NYY 62---------------------- 1. Yu Darvish ChC .54
2. Jose Berrios Min 51 ---------------------1. Robbie Ray Ari 54
3. Justin Verlander Hou 49 -----------------3. Patrick Corbin Wash 50
3. Lucas Giolito ChW 49 -------------------3. Walker Buehler LAD 50
 
WHIP
AL---------------------------------------------NL
1. Justin Verlander Hou 0.66 --------------1. Craig Stammen SD 0.71
2. Kenta Maeda Min 0.71------------------ 2. Stephen Strasburg Wash 0.75
3. Charlie Morton TB 0.82 -----------------3. Jon Gray Col 0.83
------------------------------------------------3. Josh Tomlin Atl 0.83
Nice to see Kepler leading the league in HRs and Berrios and Maeda making appearances in the top 3 of big categories. All League Leader stats here: https://www.dynastyleaguebaseball.com/LeagueLeaders.aspx?OrgID=116202&League=0&Report=0&GameType=0
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

MINNESOTA TEAM STATS


Runs 114 (4th) ------------Hits 173 (4th) ---------Doubles 41 (3rd) -------Triples 5 (3rd)
Home Runs 31 (2nd) -----RBI 110 (4th) ---------BB 93 (1st) -------------Strike Outs 185 (9th)---SB (T11th)
Average .254 (T 7th) -----OBP .352 (2nd)------- SLG .466 (3rd) ---------OPS .819 (3rd)

Wins 13 (2nd)-----------Saves 5 (4thT) ---------Hits allowed 141 (2nd)----------Runs allowed 66 (2nd)
HRs Allowed 19 (4th)---Walks 59 (7th)----------Strike Outs 209 (4th)----------- BAA .215 (2nd)
WHIP 1.17 (2nd)-------- ERA 2.95 (2nd)

Team stats overall are consistently in the top 4 in the AL in both batting and pitching. Great start to the season. Team stats here: https://www.dynastyleaguebaseball.com/LeagueStats.aspx?OrgID=116202&League=1&Report=0&GameType=0&Splits=0
 

MINNESOTA INDIVIDUAL STATS


Batting
Mitch Garver .286/.430/.619----1.049 OPS------ Leads team in Walks (15), OBP, SLG, OPS
Nelson Cruz .286/.398/.500------ .898 ------------Leads team in Runs (16)
Max Kepler .222/.320/.568. ------.887 ------------Leads team in AB (81), HR (8), RBI (25)
Byron Buxton .307/.361/.493 -----.855 -----------Leads team in Hits (23), 2b (7), 3b (2), SB (1), AVG
Josh Donaldson .254/.384/.465.- .849
Miguel Sano .257/.368/.473------ .841------------ Leads team in Ks (32)
Jorge Polanco .243/.341/.351---- .693
Luis Arraez .283/.295/.383-------- .678
Eddie Rosario. .216/.273/.431---- .704----------- Not enough PA to qualify, but close

Pitching
Starters
Jose Berrios. 3-1 ----------- 39.0 IP----- 51/14 K/BB----1.21 WHIP------3.00 ERA------.594 OPS Against
Kenta Maeda. 2-1 -----------28.1 --------30/6 ------------0.71 ------------1.59 -----------.450
Jake Odorizzi 3-0------------30.2--------39/9------------1.08--------------2.05------------.566
Homer Bailey 1-2------------21.1---------22/10-----------1.27-------------4.22-------------.659
Jhoulys Chacin 0-0-----------2.2---------5/2--------------4.13-------------23.63-----------1.972

Relievers
Taylor Rogers 1-1, 4 SV -----9.1 IP-------16/5 K/BB------0.96 WHIP-----0.00 ERA-----.427 OPS Against
Tyler Clippard 0-0, 0---------0.2-----------0/0--------------1.50------------0.00-----------.667
Sergio Romo 1-0, 1----------12.1---------14/5-------------1.30------------0.73-----------.597
Randy Dobnak 2-1, 0--------17.0---------16/2-------------0.88------------2.12-----------.606
Tyler Duffey 0-0, 0-----------5.2-----------9/4--------------2.47-------------6.35----------.882
Trevor May 0-0, 0------------2.2----------5/2---------------1.75------------11.25---------1.017
Zack Littell - Has Not played

6 of our 8 qualified batters have an OPS over .800 which is awesome. 4 of our starters have an OPS against under .700 which is also awesome. Our three workhorse relievers so far, Rogers, Romo and Dobnak have a 46/12 K/BB ratio and all three have an ERA under 2.50. Overall, again, a great start to the season. Individual Twins player stats here: https://www.dynastyleaguebaseball.com/TeamStats.aspx?OrgID=116202&TeamID=10&Report=0&GameType=0&Splits=0

TWINS 2020 SEASON SIMULATION


 
 
Game 15, 4-11-20
(I missed posting yesterday, so two short posts today.). Twins coming off a win vs Chicago wants to expand on that. Odorizzi (2-0) vs. Gio Gonzalez (1-0). Both game highlights below.

The Twins started out hot. Buxton hit a single to start out the game. Kepler doubled scoring Buxton from 1st. Sano singled, scoring Kepler. Cruz doubled, but Sano only could make it to third where he got stranded. Twins leading 2-0. In the bottom of the 4th, Luis Robert hit a single to Jake Cave with 2 men on base. Cave threw a bullet home nailing Yoan Moncada to end the inning. Everything was pretty tame for the rest of the game. Odorizzi pitched 8 wonderful innings getting the win, 4 hits, 2 walks, 0 runs, 13 Ks, game score 89. Rogers came in for the last inning and got his 4th save of the season.

Twins win 2-0
https://www.dynastyleaguebaseball.com/GameRecap.aspx?OrgID=116202&GameID=fdf2636c66064170a67804cd9b04aa76&ReportType=1
Other League News
Jon Gray pitched a 4 hit shut out for Colorado (10-4) 90 game score. Trevor Story went 3-5 in the same game bringing his batting avg. to .429.

 
Game 16, 4-12-20
Twins going for the sweep today vs. the White Sox. Maeda (1-1) vs. Keuchel (1-1).

The Twins just like last game are making a splash to start off the game again. Buxton doubled to lead off the game. Then Sano knocked in Buxton. Twins lead 1-0. Maeda got in trouble in the bottom of the 2nd. Encarnacion hit a single, Abreu got on base after Adrianza threw the ball wildly to first. Grandal hit a single scoring a run. Robert then hit into a double play scoring Abreu. Chicago leads 2-1. Bottom of the third, Yoan Moncada hit a bomb to CF, but Buxton and his amazing defense robbed him of an extra base hit. Also Tim Anderson got walked, and Garver had enough and got ejected from the game. In the top of the 4th, Cruz finally hit his first HR of the season tying this game up. Tied 2-2. More Twins highlights in the top of the 6th. Sano and Cruz started out with singles. Donaldson hit the third single in a row giving the Twins their first lead in 4 innings. Twins lead 3-2. Top of the 7th, Polanco walked and Buxton doubled. With no outs Keuchel who pitched a good game thus far, was pulled from the game. Evan Marshall came in for relief. Kepler hit one deep, but was caught but sacrificed in Polanco. Then Sano hit a double scoring buxton. Marshall finally settled down and got out of the inning. Twins lead 5-2. In the top of the 8th the Twins tried to all but end the game. Cave hit his first hr of the season scoring Avila who walked. Buxton eventually got a sacrifice fly on a foul ball scoring Adrianza who doubled earlier. Twins lead 8-2. In the bottom of the 9th, with Sergio Romo pitching the White Sox wanted to give it one last go. Moncada hit a hard one back to Romo to start the inning and Romo booted it for an error. Encarnacion and Abreu loaded the bases for Yasmani Grandal. A grand slam would make this a game. Grandal ended up hitting a 2 rbi single. Romo then struck out the final three batters

Twins Win 8-4
Maeda got the win 3 hits, 0 unearned runs, 1 bb, 8 ks, in 7.2 innings. Game score 80. Twins get the much needed sweep before heading to Toronto.
https://www.dynastyleaguebaseball.com/GameRecap.aspx?OrgID=116202&GameID=05eb0a40429b4f118a09a171a08f978a&ReportType=1
Twins 10-6 _ 2nd place, 3.5 games behind Cleveland
 
Other League News
Trea Turner of Washington out for 2 weeks. He is having a mediocre season so far. Oakland (9-7) had some 9th inning magic vs the Yankees (7-9) when Pinder who is having a horrible season hit a walk off double. Luis Castillo pitched a gem for Cincinnati game score of 93, putting him 3-0 on the season with 1.69 era. Ozuna hit a 12th inning home run (his 2nd of the season) to put Arizona (9-8) on top of Miami (5-12). The Tigers got their 4th win of the season, with help from the weather when the game was stopped after the top of the 6th due to rain.
 
Twins Stats & More
https://www.dynastyleaguebaseball.com/TeamStats.aspx?OrgID=116202&TeamID=10&Report=0&GameType=0&Splits=0

TWINS 2020 SEASON SIMULATION


 
Game 17, 4-13-20
After the Twins swept the White Sox it was time to move on to Toronto. Toronto is off to a cold start (7-9) last in the AL East. This is doable for the Twins to get another sweep on the road. Game 1 matches up Homer Bailey (0-2) vs Trent Thornton (0-1). Game highlights below.

The first two innings were a pitchers duel 12 up, 12 down between the two teams.
Bottom of the 3rd - Travis Shaw was safe on an error by Polanco. The Twins started the season with stellar defense and now it seems like we are giving up errors left and right. I could change the lineups around with no Arraez or Sano to get better defense (The way the AI has the team set to run), but then we would lose some of our key bats. Overall not worth it. Jansen and Cavan Biggio walked, loading the bases. Gurriel Jr. hit a single scoring Shaw. Bichette grounded out but it scored Danny Jansen. ​Blue Jays lead 2-0
Bottom of the 4th - Randal Grichuk singled, then Bailey gave up a 2 run home run to Brandon Drury, his 1st of the season. ​Blue Jays lead 4-0
Top of the 5th - It took 4 innings for the Twins to get a hit in this game off Trent Thornton, it took 5 for the Twins to get a home run. Sano walked, Rosario grounded out, Buxton struck out, then Kepler hit a 2 run shot, 426 ft to dead center. This was his 6th home run of the season, only 1 behind the AL leader Michael Brantley. Despite only hitting .214 so far Kepler has been MVP of this offense. Blue Jays lead 4-2
Top of the 6th - After Bailey got through a 1-2-3 inning, the Twins need some runs as time is running out. Cruz walked and Donaldson came up and hit a 444 ft blast tying up the game. Garver walked up to the batters box and hit another HR, the Twins first back to back HRs this season. Twins lead 5-4
Top of the 7th - Bailey got another 1-2-3 inning in the bottom of the 6th, his 4th of this game which gave the Twins a chance to expand the lead. With 2 outs, it didn't look like much was going to happen, but the Twins started to rally after Polanco got plunked. Cruz came up and watched some bad pitches go by for a base on balls again. And that was it for Thornton who gave up the mound for Wilmer Font. Donaldson made Charlie Montoyo look foolish with that move. He hit a 2 RBI double giving the Twins some cushion. Twins lead 7-4
Bottom of the 8th - After giving up a double to Reese McGuire, Romo came in to relieve Homer Bailey. Despite 4 runs given up, Bailey pitched a good, very efficient game overall, game score 58. Romo got out of the inning unscathed. Twins lead 7-4
Top of the 9th - Cruz walked his 3rd time this game. Donaldson must not be a friend of Wilmer Font because he has not been treating him well this game. Donaldson hit his 2nd 425+ ft HR of the game. Twins lead 9-4
Bottom of the 9th - Combined Romo and Rogers gave up a couple men on base to end the game.

Twins Win 9-4
One, I found it weird that Romo was left in the game and they threw Rogers in there for part of the 9th when this was a blow out. It was a good way to waste 2 of our top arms when we may need them the next game. Romo has pitched 12.1 innings, has a 14-5 K/BB, and only given up 1 ER, 0.73 ERA. Rogers has pitched 8 innings, batters are hitting .107 off him, he has a whip of 0.88 and has not let up an earned run yet. The player of this game, though, was definitely Josh Donaldson. He had only 2 doubles and 1 HR going into the game. His line for this game was 5 AB, 2 Runs, 3 Hits, 1 double, 2 home runs, 6 RBI. He got more RBI and HRs in this game then he had the prior 16 games. His OPS is now up to .770; with a few more games like this, that will be very respectable soon.
https://www.dynastyleaguebaseball.com/GameRecap.aspx?OrgID=116202&GameID=3f63f11555784ec7b9bc4836d1a8ffff&ReportType=1
 
Other League News
In interleague play, Strasburg pitched a 2 hitter for Washington (10-6) over (6-12) Seattle. That brings his ERA down to a ridiculous 0.38 early in the season. Adalberto Mondesi of KC (8-8) hit a pair of home runs off the White Sox's (6-10) Reynaldo Lopez leading KC to the win. Philadelphia (10-7) beat Milwaukee (7-9) led by Andrew McCutchen who was a double away from hitting for the cycle.
 
Twins Player Stats & More
https://www.dynastyleaguebaseball.com/TeamStats.aspx?OrgID=116202&TeamID=10&Report=0&GameType=0&Splits=0

TWINS 2020 SEASON SIMULATION


 
 
Game 15, 4-11-20
(I missed posting yesterday, so two short posts today.). Twins coming off a win vs Chicago wants to expand on that. Odorizzi (2-0) vs. Gio Gonzalez (1-0). Both game highlights below.

The Twins started out hot. Buxton hit a single to start out the game. Kepler doubled scoring Buxton from 1st. Sano singled, scoring Kepler. Cruz doubled, but Sano only could make it to third where he got stranded. Twins leading 2-0. In the bottom of the 4th, Luis Robert hit a single to Jake Cave with 2 men on base. Cave threw a bullet home nailing Yoan Moncada to end the inning. Everything was pretty tame for the rest of the game. Odorizzi pitched 8 wonderful innings getting the win, 4 hits, 2 walks, 0 runs, 13 Ks, game score 89. Rogers came in for the last inning and got his 4th save of the season.

Twins win 2-0
https://www.dynastyleaguebaseball.com/GameRecap.aspx?OrgID=116202&GameID=fdf2636c66064170a67804cd9b04aa76&ReportType=1
Other League News
Jon Gray pitched a 4 hit shut out for Colorado (10-4) 90 game score. Trevor Story went 3-5 in the same game bringing his batting avg. to .429.

 
Game 16, 4-12-20
Twins going for the sweep today vs. the White Sox. Maeda (1-1) vs. Keuchel (1-1).

The Twins just like last game are making a splash to start off the game again. Buxton doubled to lead off the game. Then Sano knocked in Buxton. Twins lead 1-0. Maeda got in trouble in the bottom of the 2nd. Encarnacion hit a single, Abreu got on base after Adrianza threw the ball wildly to first. Grandal hit a single scoring a run. Robert then hit into a double play scoring Abreu. Chicago leads 2-1. Bottom of the third, Yoan Moncada hit a bomb to CF, but Buxton and his amazing defense robbed him of an extra base hit. Also Tim Anderson got walked, and Garver had enough and got ejected from the game. In the top of the 4th, Cruz finally hit his first HR of the season tying this game up. Tied 2-2. More Twins highlights in the top of the 6th. Sano and Cruz started out with singles. Donaldson hit the third single in a row giving the Twins their first lead in 4 innings. Twins lead 3-2. Top of the 7th, Polanco walked and Buxton doubled. With no outs Keuchel who pitched a good game thus far, was pulled from the game. Evan Marshall came in for relief. Kepler hit one deep, but was caught but sacrificed in Polanco. Then Sano hit a double scoring buxton. Marshall finally settled down and got out of the inning. Twins lead 5-2. In the top of the 8th the Twins tried to all but end the game. Cave hit his first hr of the season scoring Avila who walked. Buxton eventually got a sacrifice fly on a foul ball scoring Adrianza who doubled earlier. Twins lead 8-2. In the bottom of the 9th, with Sergio Romo pitching the White Sox wanted to give it one last go. Moncada hit a hard one back to Romo to start the inning and Romo booted it for an error. Encarnacion and Abreu loaded the bases for Yasmani Grandal. A grand slam would make this a game. Grandal ended up hitting a 2 rbi single. Romo then struck out the final three batters

Twins Win 8-4
Maeda got the win 3 hits, 0 unearned runs, 1 bb, 8 ks, in 7.2 innings. Game score 80. Twins get the much needed sweep before heading to Toronto.
https://www.dynastyleaguebaseball.com/GameRecap.aspx?OrgID=116202&GameID=05eb0a40429b4f118a09a171a08f978a&ReportType=1
Twins 10-6 _ 2nd place, 3.5 games behind Cleveland
 
Other League News
Trea Turner of Washington out for 2 weeks. He is having a mediocre season so far. Oakland (9-7) had some 9th inning magic vs the Yankees (7-9) when Pinder who is having a horrible season hit a walk off double. Luis Castillo pitched a gem for Cincinnati game score of 93, putting him 3-0 on the season with 1.69 era. Ozuna hit a 12th inning home run (his 2nd of the season) to put Arizona (9-8) on top of Miami (5-12). The Tigers got their 4th win of the season, with help from the weather when the game was stopped after the top of the 6th due to rain.
 
Twins Stats & More
https://www.dynastyleaguebaseball.com/TeamStats.aspx?OrgID=116202&TeamID=10&Report=0&GameType=0&Splits=0

TWINS 2020 SEASON SIMULATION


 
 
Game 12, 4-7-20
After giving Cleveland their first loss of the season, game 2 of the series is an important one for the Twins to keep their positive momentum going. Kenta Maeda coming off an unbelievable start is going up against Mike Clevinger which is a tougher matchup for the Twins then Clase in the first game. Can the Twins get 2 in a row? Game highlights below.

Bottom of the 2nd - Nelson Cruz has been struggling this season. He is one of the only Twins starters not to hit a home run yet, surprisingly. Frustrated with how the early season is going, he watched a questionable third strike go by him, got angry, argued the call and got tossed from the game. Alex Avila came in to the DH spot to take over for the ejected Cruz. Tied 0-0
Top of the 3rd - Ramirez got robbed by Arraez to start off the game. Leading off in the third he snuck a double by Arraez this time. Freeman singled and then Lindor walked. Maeda in a huge jam with the bases loaded and no outs. Santana grounded out to 3rd but scored Ramirez. Maeda induced two more ground outs to end the inning fairly unscathed. Cleveland leads 1-0
Bottom of the 5th - Clevinger continued his no hitter through the first two batters, but then the Twins finally started to figure Clevinger out. Rosario shot a towering 451 ft home run to right field. Buxton followed it up with a Triple. Then Kepler hit his 5th home run of the season. Twins lead 3-1
Top of the 7th - Kenta Maeda gets two outs and Baldelli shuts him down for the day. A great quality start for Maeda, 6.2 innings, 7 men on base, 4 Ks, 67 game score. Tyler Duffey comes in for relief and gets Lindor to ground out to end the inning. Twins lead 3-1
Bottom of the 7th - Clevinger continues to struggle just a little walking Rosario and giving up a single to Buxton to start the inning. Nick Wittgren relieved him. Kepler fouled out. Arraez grounded into a fielder's choice, and Polanco struck out, squandering the threat the twins had. Twins 3-1
Top of the 8th - Things started to fall off the rails for Duffey. He walked Santana, and then Roberto Perez hit a single to left field. Cesar Hernandez got another single for the Indians, scoring Santana. Naquin had a sacrifice fly scoring another run. Mercado got another single putting men on 1st and 3rd. Duffey got one more out before being replaced by Taylor Rogers, who almost gave up a HR to Jose Ramirez, but was caught by Rosario deep in left. Tied 3-3
Bottom of the 9th - Rosario leads the inning off with a double putting the winning run in scoring position with no outs. Buxton got intentionally walked. Kepler hit a little bloop pop out. Marwin Gonzalez comes in for Arraez and goes down on strikes. Polanco connected, but hit it right to third sending the Twins back out on the field in extra innings. Tied 3-3
Top of the 10th - Baldelli is trusting his top arm in Rogers leaving him in for his tsecond inning. Rogers didn't let Baldelli down sitting the Indians down in order with 2 Ks. Tied 3-3
Bottom of the 10th - Brad hand is in his 2nd inning pitched for Cleveland. Josh Donaldson had a good eye getting walked, but that is all the Twins could accomplish this inning.
Top of the 11th - Baldelli has already left Rogers in for 2.1 innings but wanted him to keep going as he has been on fire. Rogers got two strike outs but hit Mike Freeman with a pitch. Carlos Santana came up and got the inning ending ground out to Rogers, but Rogers booted it allowing Santana to make it safely to first and keep the inning alive. Completely tuckered out, Baldelli finally puts Trevor May in for Rogers. May walked Puig who was pinch hitting. May then got Sandy Leon to ground to Donaldson at third but Donaldson's throw was wild and 2 runs scored before May struck out Naquin to end the inning. Indians lead 5-3
Bottom of the 11th - Brad Hand and Nick Goody come in to end the game with no real threat from the Twins.

Indians win 5-3.
The Twins defense had been stellar up to this game, but it really cost them this one. Neither run would have occurred in the 11th if it wasn't for Rogers and Donaldson's errors and they had 2 more errors earlier in the game. Seeing a 4 in the last column of the scoreboard is never what you want to see. Duffey gets a blown save, and Rogers, despite a good game gets the loss (0-1)
https://www.dynastyleaguebaseball.com/GameRecap.aspx?OrgID=116202&GameID=7fa4716eb7914feba4c65e67996d0dd7&ReportType=1
 
Twins 7-5 _ 2nd Place, 4 games behind Cleveland
 
Other League News
The Cubs are off to a mediocre start of the season going into today's game (5-5). But they came to play in Pittsburgh today winning 17-4. They hit 9 home runs! Contreras, Almora Jr. and Baez hit 2 each, Hayward, Bryant and Bote each had one of their own as well.
San Diego and Atlanta are both struggling with 5-7 records, but a couple great games gave San Diego the win today. Hosmer went 4-4 with his 2nd and 3rd home run of the season and bringing his season batting average up to .389. MacKenzie Gore didn't make it to the 8th inning but had 14 strike outs with only 4 men on base giving him a 92 game score.
Cam Bedrosian of the Angels (4-8) out for 2 months.
 
Twins 2020 Season Player Stats
https://www.dynastyleaguebaseball.com/TeamStats.aspx?OrgID=116202&TeamID=10&Report=0&GameType=0&Splits=0
 
The Twins have 15 home runs in 12 games which isn't bad, but are still 10 bombs behind the Astros. Their .239 team batting average puts them in the bottom half, just above the Tigers...which definitely says something about the Twins start of the season.

TWINS 2020 SEASON SIMULATION


 
 
Game 12, 4-7-20
After giving Cleveland their first loss of the season, game 2 of the series is an important one for the Twins to keep their positive momentum going. Kenta Maeda coming off an unbelievable start is going up against Mike Clevinger which is a tougher matchup for the Twins then Clase in the first game. Can the Twins get 2 in a row? Game highlights below.

Bottom of the 2nd - Nelson Cruz has been struggling this season. He is one of the only Twins starters not to hit a home run yet, surprisingly. Frustrated with how the early season is going, he watched a questionable third strike go by him, got angry, argued the call and got tossed from the game. Alex Avila came in to the DH spot to take over for the ejected Cruz. Tied 0-0
Top of the 3rd - Ramirez got robbed by Arraez to start off the game. Leading off in the third he snuck a double by Arraez this time. Freeman singled and then Lindor walked. Maeda in a huge jam with the bases loaded and no outs. Santana grounded out to 3rd but scored Ramirez. Maeda induced two more ground outs to end the inning fairly unscathed. Cleveland leads 1-0
Bottom of the 5th - Clevinger continued his no hitter through the first two batters, but then the Twins finally started to figure Clevinger out. Rosario shot a towering 451 ft home run to right field. Buxton followed it up with a Triple. Then Kepler hit his 5th home run of the season. Twins lead 3-1
Top of the 7th - Kenta Maeda gets two outs and Baldelli shuts him down for the day. A great quality start for Maeda, 6.2 innings, 7 men on base, 4 Ks, 67 game score. Tyler Duffey comes in for relief and gets Lindor to ground out to end the inning. Twins lead 3-1
Bottom of the 7th - Clevinger continues to struggle just a little walking Rosario and giving up a single to Buxton to start the inning. Nick Wittgren relieved him. Kepler fouled out. Arraez grounded into a fielder's choice, and Polanco struck out, squandering the threat the twins had. Twins 3-1
Top of the 8th - Things started to fall off the rails for Duffey. He walked Santana, and then Roberto Perez hit a single to left field. Cesar Hernandez got another single for the Indians, scoring Santana. Naquin had a sacrifice fly scoring another run. Mercado got another single putting men on 1st and 3rd. Duffey got one more out before being replaced by Taylor Rogers, who almost gave up a HR to Jose Ramirez, but was caught by Rosario deep in left. Tied 3-3
Bottom of the 9th - Rosario leads the inning off with a double putting the winning run in scoring position with no outs. Buxton got intentionally walked. Kepler hit a little bloop pop out. Marwin Gonzalez comes in for Arraez and goes down on strikes. Polanco connected, but hit it right to third sending the Twins back out on the field in extra innings. Tied 3-3
Top of the 10th - Baldelli is trusting his top arm in Rogers leaving him in for his tsecond inning. Rogers didn't let Baldelli down sitting the Indians down in order with 2 Ks. Tied 3-3
Bottom of the 10th - Brad hand is in his 2nd inning pitched for Cleveland. Josh Donaldson had a good eye getting walked, but that is all the Twins could accomplish this inning.
Top of the 11th - Baldelli has already left Rogers in for 2.1 innings but wanted him to keep going as he has been on fire. Rogers got two strike outs but hit Mike Freeman with a pitch. Carlos Santana came up and got the inning ending ground out to Rogers, but Rogers booted it allowing Santana to make it safely to first and keep the inning alive. Completely tuckered out, Baldelli finally puts Trevor May in for Rogers. May walked Puig who was pinch hitting. May then got Sandy Leon to ground to Donaldson at third but Donaldson's throw was wild and 2 runs scored before May struck out Naquin to end the inning. Indians lead 5-3
Bottom of the 11th - Brad Hand and Nick Goody come in to end the game with no real threat from the Twins.

Indians win 5-3.
The Twins defense had been stellar up to this game, but it really cost them this one. Neither run would have occurred in the 11th if it wasn't for Rogers and Donaldson's errors and they had 2 more errors earlier in the game. Seeing a 4 in the last column of the scoreboard is never what you want to see. Duffey gets a blown save, and Rogers, despite a good game gets the loss (0-1)
https://www.dynastyleaguebaseball.com/GameRecap.aspx?OrgID=116202&GameID=7fa4716eb7914feba4c65e67996d0dd7&ReportType=1
 
Twins 7-5 _ 2nd Place, 4 games behind Cleveland
 
Other League News
The Cubs are off to a mediocre start of the season going into today's game (5-5). But they came to play in Pittsburgh today winning 17-4. They hit 9 home runs! Contreras, Almora Jr. and Baez hit 2 each, Hayward, Bryant and Bote each had one of their own as well.
San Diego and Atlanta are both struggling with 5-7 records, but a couple great games gave San Diego the win today. Hosmer went 4-4 with his 2nd and 3rd home run of the season and bringing his season batting average up to .389. MacKenzie Gore didn't make it to the 8th inning but had 14 strike outs with only 4 men on base giving him a 92 game score.
Cam Bedrosian of the Angels (4-8) out for 2 months.
 
Twins 2020 Season Player Stats
https://www.dynastyleaguebaseball.com/TeamStats.aspx?OrgID=116202&TeamID=10&Report=0&GameType=0&Splits=0
 
The Twins have 15 home runs in 12 games which isn't bad, but are still 10 bombs behind the Astros. Their .239 team batting average puts them in the bottom half, just above the Tigers...which definitely says something about the Twins start of the season.

TWINS 2020 SEASON SIMULATION


 
Game 11, 4-6-20
This is a huge series early in the season as the undefeated Cleveland Indians are traveling to Minneapolis to face the 2nd place Twins who are 4 games back. This is the Twins chance to make back some games. Hopefully Cleveland's 10-0 start is due to an easy schedule. The match pits Odorizzi up against Emmanuel Clase. Below we will highlight the scoring innings.

Bottom of the 2nd - Sano walked, Buxton launched one to left center scoring the "speedy" Sano from 1st. Kepler walked and then Arraez hit one deep into the hole at 2nd and getting by Mike Freeman scoring Buxton. Twins up 2-0
Bottom of the 3rd - Hunter Wood came in relieving Clase at the start of the half inning. Tough outing for Clase. The pitching change didn't help much. Cruz lead off the inning with a single, and Donaldson pushed him to third due to an error by Carlos Santana. Sano grounded out but knocked in Cruz. Twins 3-0
Top of the 6th - Odorizzi finally falters just a little bit. Santana walked to start the inning, followed by a Roberto Perez single moving Santana to third. Odorizzi struck out Puig. Then Cesar Hernandez singled scoring Santana. From there, Odorizzi got out of the jam getting the final 2 outs. Twins 3-1
Bottom of the 6th - Rosario wasn't going to let the Indians get closer, and led off the inning with a HR to right field. Twins 4-1
Top of the 7th - Odorizzi gave up a double to Freeman and then a walk (64 Game score, quality start), and Sergio Romo came in to get the last out of the inning, no runs scored. Twins 4-1
Bottom of the 7th - Nick Wittgren relieved Wood. Once again the Twins immediately capitalized. Polanco doubled deep to right, just missing a Home Run, Cruz walked and then Sano ended his nice game with a 2 RBI triple. Twins 6-1
Top of the 9th - Baldelli kept Romo in the game to keep fresh arms. Ramirez singled. He struck out Freeman. Lindor got a single moving Ramirez to second. But Romo got a hot Carlos Santana to ground out with a game ending double play. Odorizzi gets the win (2-0). Romo gets the junk save. Cleveland gets their first loss of the season by way of the TWINS!

Twins win 6-1
https://www.dynastyleaguebaseball.com/GameRecap.aspx?OrgID=116202&GameID=dbcc347798bd4cebae87684dd81e581d&ReportType=1
 
Twins 7-4 _ 2nd Place, 3 games behind Cleveland
 
Other League News
Not much to say other than a PERFECT GAME. Madison Bumgarner and Arizona up against Bumgarner's former team, San Fran. 27 up, 27 down with 12 Ks. You may say, oh this simulation pushes these type of results. I have played dynasty league baseball for 25 years be it rolling dice, the pc cd-rom sim, to the now online sim...I have easily played over 1,000 games of this, and have NEVER seen a perfect game until this one. I've only seen a handful of no-hitters. This is super rare. I posted on the game's FB page, and they re-posted it because it is so rare. Pretty awesome. Link to see the box score and recap:
https://www.dynastyleaguebaseball.com/GameRecap.aspx?OrgID=116202&GameID=6aa5c46d80bb430eacf93555ace770eb&ReportType=1
 
Twins 2020 season Player Stats:
https://www.dynastyleaguebaseball.com/TeamStats.aspx?OrgID=116202&TeamID=10&Report=0&GameType=0&Splits=0

TWINS 2020 SEASON SIMULATION


 
Game 11, 4-6-20
This is a huge series early in the season as the undefeated Cleveland Indians are traveling to Minneapolis to face the 2nd place Twins who are 4 games back. This is the Twins chance to make back some games. Hopefully Cleveland's 10-0 start is due to an easy schedule. The match pits Odorizzi up against Emmanuel Clase. Below we will highlight the scoring innings.

Bottom of the 2nd - Sano walked, Buxton launched one to left center scoring the "speedy" Sano from 1st. Kepler walked and then Arraez hit one deep into the hole at 2nd and getting by Mike Freeman scoring Buxton. Twins up 2-0
Bottom of the 3rd - Hunter Wood came in relieving Clase at the start of the half inning. Tough outing for Clase. The pitching change didn't help much. Cruz lead off the inning with a single, and Donaldson pushed him to third due to an error by Carlos Santana. Sano grounded out but knocked in Cruz. Twins 3-0
Top of the 6th - Odorizzi finally falters just a little bit. Santana walked to start the inning, followed by a Roberto Perez single moving Santana to third. Odorizzi struck out Puig. Then Cesar Hernandez singled scoring Santana. From there, Odorizzi got out of the jam getting the final 2 outs. Twins 3-1
Bottom of the 6th - Rosario wasn't going to let the Indians get closer, and led off the inning with a HR to right field. Twins 4-1
Top of the 7th - Odorizzi gave up a double to Freeman and then a walk (64 Game score, quality start), and Sergio Romo came in to get the last out of the inning, no runs scored. Twins 4-1
Bottom of the 7th - Nick Wittgren relieved Wood. Once again the Twins immediately capitalized. Polanco doubled deep to right, just missing a Home Run, Cruz walked and then Sano ended his nice game with a 2 RBI triple. Twins 6-1
Top of the 9th - Baldelli kept Romo in the game to keep fresh arms. Ramirez singled. He struck out Freeman. Lindor got a single moving Ramirez to second. But Romo got a hot Carlos Santana to ground out with a game ending double play. Odorizzi gets the win (2-0). Romo gets the junk save. Cleveland gets their first loss of the season by way of the TWINS!

Twins win 6-1
https://www.dynastyleaguebaseball.com/GameRecap.aspx?OrgID=116202&GameID=dbcc347798bd4cebae87684dd81e581d&ReportType=1
 
Twins 7-4 _ 2nd Place, 3 games behind Cleveland
 
Other League News
Not much to say other than a PERFECT GAME. Madison Bumgarner and Arizona up against Bumgarner's former team, San Fran. 27 up, 27 down with 12 Ks. You may say, oh this simulation pushes these type of results. I have played dynasty league baseball for 25 years be it rolling dice, the pc cd-rom sim, to the now online sim...I have easily played over 1,000 games of this, and have NEVER seen a perfect game until this one. I've only seen a handful of no-hitters. This is super rare. I posted on the game's FB page, and they re-posted it because it is so rare. Pretty awesome. Link to see the box score and recap:
https://www.dynastyleaguebaseball.com/GameRecap.aspx?OrgID=116202&GameID=6aa5c46d80bb430eacf93555ace770eb&ReportType=1
 
Twins 2020 season Player Stats:
https://www.dynastyleaguebaseball.com/TeamStats.aspx?OrgID=116202&TeamID=10&Report=0&GameType=0&Splits=0

TWINS 2020 SEASON SIMULATION


 
I'm simulating the 2020 season on the online board game Dynasty League Baseball. Each day I will try to give an update so you can follow along with this imaginary season. I'm a bit behind so I will list the first 10 games of the Twins season here. I will also try to add highlights going on in the league each week along with mid and end of month standings and league leaders. I will also place a link for each game in case you want to check the box score and/or the play by play recap.
 
Game 1 3-26-20
The Twins are off to a good start with their season opener beating Oakland 4-2. Berrios started the game with a quality start and a 73 game score (I use game score 2.0). Romo came in for an inning getting all three strike outs. Taylor Rogers closed the game for the save. Kepler hit 2 doubles, but Buxton was the Player of the Game going 3-4 with a home run while batting 9th.
Twins 1-0 _ Tied for 1st in Central
https://www.dynastyleaguebaseball.com/GameRecap.aspx?OrgID=115933&GameID=ae9d6573d29743ccaef74ccc30ecd2aa&ReportType=1
Other League News
Garret Cooper-Miami and Howie Kendrick-Washington started the season out with 2 HRs a piece...not the sluggers you'd expect.
 
Game 2 3-27-20
The Twins struggle to get a hit off of Oakland's Sean Manea through 4 innings. But in the 5th the bats started to heat up, with the nail in the coffin coming from Kepler with a 3 run HR in the 8th. Odorizzi pitched a gem, the only ding was giving a HR up to Chapman in the 9th inning. Pitched 8.2 innings with an 83 Game score
Twins 2-0 _ 1st by 1/2 a game
https://www.dynastyleaguebaseball.com/GameRecap.aspx?OrgID=116202&GameID=7e1f1807019c4aa988564e696f209c43&ReportType=1
Other League News
Texas thought they had Seattle beat by scoring 2 in the top of the 10th, but Carlos Gonzalez of Seattle hit a walk off single in the bottom of the 10th. Mookie Betts starting off hot for the Dodgers going 4-5 in his 2nd game wearing an LA uniform. Jon Gray made it 3.1 innings for Colorado before he got injured for 2 weeks. Bumgarner in his Arizona debut and Greinke in Houston also only lasted 4 innings before getting injured. They'll be back before their next start.
 
Game 3 3-28-20
Twins get their first loss, losing 1-7 in Oakland. Kenta Maeda had a rough start giving up 4 runs in 5.1 innings, game score of 54. The Twins didn't capitalize when they needed to going 0-8 with RISP.
Twins 2-1 _ 2nd by a half a game
https://www.dynastyleaguebaseball.com/GameRecap.aspx?OrgID=116202&GameID=e2accd3b6d104386ae222fe066027ee0&ReportType=1
Other League News
First shut out of the season goes to the Dodgers over the Giants, a combined outing by David Price and Pedro Baez. 8 men on with 15 strike outs. Baltimore surprised the Yankees with the win and hit 6 home runs.
 
Game 4 3-29-20
The Twins just miss winning the series. Oakland wins game 4, 6-5. Homer Bailey got beat up giving up all 6 runs, 46 game score. The Twins rally'd around Sano throughout the game. He had an rbi double early in the game and made it a 1 run game after his 2 man HR in the 8th. Hoping to tie or win the game in the 9th, Liam Hendricks came in for Oakland and struck out Cave, Kepler, and Arraez to save the game. Donaldson is having a rough start in Minneapolis hitting .067 for the series.
Twins 2-2 _ 3rd place, 1.5 back of Cleveland
https://www.dynastyleaguebaseball.com/GameRecap.aspx?OrgID=116202&GameID=24578723158342f0b08ef29c1329d696&ReportType=1
Other League News
Texas beats Seattle by a football score 20-10 led by Joey Gallo's 3 HRs and 6 RBI. San Diego got their first win of the season over Colorado with a 10th inning walk off single by Francisco Mejia. The White Sox were down 3-1 in the bottom of the 9th when Abreu hit a 3 run walk off HR giving Giolito a CG win. Houston also went off scoring 17 runs...the Angels said they heard some garbage can banging. Philly and Miami both went through 8 pitchers each in their 13 inning game, while Detroit and Cleveland went through 9 pitchers total in their 16 inning game. Despite the Yankees win, they had bad news losing Gio Urshela for 14 days and Gary Sanchez for 20. Phillies lose Seranthony Dominguez for the season.
 
Game 5 3-30-20
The Twins are hoping to reverse their fortune traveling to Seattle...and boy did they ever winning 20-2 with 16 Hits and 11 Walks. Chacin only made it 2/3 of an inning before getting injured and will probably miss his next start. Dobnak came in for the majority of the game and pitched really well. Mitch Garver is on fire early this season. He went 5-6 with 3 HRs and 5 RBI.
Twins 3-2 _ 2nd place, 1.5 behind Cleveland
https://www.dynastyleaguebaseball.com/GameRecap.aspx?OrgID=116202&GameID=a866ab51f4ae4d88bfb1cff758b571a1&ReportType=1
Other League News
Lorenzo Cain had a walk off HR for Milwaukee over STL, his first HR of the season. Cleveland is the only undefeated team at this point at 4-0. The Giants and Angels are yet to win a game at 0-4.
 
Game 6 3-31-20
Minnesota takes game 2 in Seattle 3-1. Berrios was the player of the game giving up only 5 hits with 8 Strikeouts in 7.2 innings, 77 Game score. Rogers came in for his first save since opening day.
Twins 4-2 _ 2nd place, 1 behind Cleveland
https://www.dynastyleaguebaseball.com/GameRecap.aspx?OrgID=116202&GameID=978d07d352e1484c8496b9f5773b1b19&ReportType=1
Other League News
Mike Soroka pitched a CG shutout, 93 GS for Atlanta over SD. But Patrick Corbin of Washington did even better with his CG shutout over Miami, with a whopping 99 Game Score, and 15 Ks. Lance Lynn of Texas didn't have a shutout but struck out 16 Angels batters. Baltimore is above .500.
 
Game 7 4-1-20
Minnesota sweeps Seattle with a 5-4 win in game 3 of the series. Odorizzi had a pedestrian day with a 60 game score. Romo came in for the win late and has now pitched 6.1 innings on the season with no runs given up. This game was tied up 4-4 in the top of the 9th when Kepler hit a 2-out 410 ft bomb to right field which turned into the game winner.
Twins 5-2 _ 2nd place, 1.5 behind Cleveland (6-0)
https://www.dynastyleaguebaseball.com/GameRecap.aspx?OrgID=116202&GameID=075ec823ffe54d84a19df88e4287a1ab&ReportType=1
Other League News
Despite the Angels just getting their first win, Trout has been raking, batting .429. The Cubs were just about to 10-run-rule the Pirates in the sixth (10-1) when the game was called due to rain.
 
Game 8 4-2-20
Twins home opener!!!! Oakland is in town for game 1, and then tomorrow we get our first day off of the season. And Holy Smokes, what a way to start at Target Field in 2020. Twins beat Oakland 5-0. Kenta Maeda started and pitched a phenomenal game 98 game score. For some reason Baldelli pulled him for Romo with one out left in the game. Maeda pitched 8.2 innings gave up 1 hit, and 2 walks with 8 Ks, definitely making up for his bad first start of the season. Kepler added his 4th home run of the season on the offensive side.
Twins 6-2 _ 2nd place, 1.5 behind Cleveland (they just won't lose)
https://www.dynastyleaguebaseball.com/GameRecap.aspx?OrgID=116202&GameID=da888236e4a34de8ae075ccb6a036512&ReportType=1
Other League News
Cleveland beats Detroit 5-4. 4 out of their 7 wins have been by 1 run.
 
Day off
After winning 4 in a row, time for a breather.
Twins 6-2 _ 2nd Place, 2 behind Cleveland
Other League News
Tony Wolters of Colorado had a walk off single over San Diego, with Daniel Murphy just sliding in safe over a great throw from Wil Myers in LF. After all the 1 run wins, Cleveland destroys Detroit 14-0 with Plesac pitching a 90 Game score complete game.
 
Game 9, 4-4-20
Well the day off hurt the momentum as the Twins fall at home to Oakland 1-3. Homer Bailey gets his 2nd loss of the season, but it was a tough one as he had a quality start 67 Game Score. Kepler hit the lone RBI on a SF and Arraez, Donaldson and Rosario were the only players to get a hit.
Twins 6-3 _ 2nd Place, 3 behind Cleveland
https://www.dynastyleaguebaseball.com/GameRecap.aspx?OrgID=116202&GameID=2e8cb0e19b014a0e821de1903f198255&ReportType=1
Other League News
After starting 0-5 versus the Astros, the Angels finally beat them 17-6 with 5 hits by Fletcher and 4 each for Rendon and Trout. Former spring training Twin Anibal Sanchez only lasted 1.1 innings giving up 8 runs for the Stros. Nico Hoerner, an 8th inning defensive replacement for the Cubs had a walk off homer in the 10th beating the Dbacks.
 
Game 10, 4-5-20
The Twins continue to struggle against the A's, losing the home series with a 2-6 loss. Berrios had 15 Ks, but also let 13 men on base and gave up 5 Earned Runs, 66 Game Score. It was a deceiving start as he almost rolled through the 9th with a quality start. Polanco is batting .297 and hit his first HR of the season.
Twins 6-4 _ 2nd place, 4 behind Cleveland
https://www.dynastyleaguebaseball.com/GameRecap.aspx?OrgID=116202&GameID=195be33cee844983bbe03409c607b2eb&ReportType=1
Other League News
The Indian's Adam Plutko 2 hits the Tigers in a CG shutout, 100 game score, bringing the Indians to 10-0 on the season. 5 of their 7 qualified batters are hitting above .300 on the season, all are batting above .283. 4 out of their 5 starting pitchers have a WHIP under 1.0 after their first 2 starts on the season. Raimel Tapia of Colorado (7-3) had a 25% chance his deep drive would be a walk off 3 run HR in the 11th, and he hit the jackpot beating SD. Charlie Morton of TB (8-1) also threw a 2 hit CG over Texas, 94 Game Score. Garrit Cole of the Yankees (5-4) bested all pitchers today with his 2 hitter and 19 Ks, 105 Game Score beating Toronto.